I look at the roadside and see good grazing, at a fallen tree and see a jump. My phone autodials the farrier and my Mini hauls feed, so naturally my blog is about horses.

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Oh no, look who’s at the Evergreen Classic…

Having Rich Fellers, a top national rider, show up at the Evergreen Classic doesn’t make the results a foregone conclusion, but it does up the ante a bit, especially when he has has 3 entries for the $40,000 Grand Prix.

There are plenty of other seasoned competitors in the field of 17, so there are no foregone conclusions.

When Rich Fellers has a rail down on the last fence with a regular mount, Flexible, in the first ride of the day, and then at another fence with Santa Teresita Fatasma, it opens up the possibilities.

As the rides continue, there are only three horses with clear rounds who will be advancing to the jump-offs – Top Shelf, ridden by Megan Jordan, Rainland Mel, ridden by Audra Fleck-Snijder, and SF Shakira, ridden by Jennifer Crooks.

Still, Rich Fellers has another card to play, Gyro, the last ride in the group. Gyro goes clean under a nice, steady ride. That means four will go in the jump-off. Once again Rich Fellers will have the strategic advantage of being last to go.

This position can cut both ways. Because the jump-off is decided on time as well as faults, knowing the speed you have to beat is a plus. The down side is that if you push too hard and cut too many corners, you are risking a bad distance and rails down. Based on what your horse is capable of and what kind of day they are having, you may decide to ride for a safe second or third rather than an iffy first. So says the experienced show jumper whispering in my ear, anyway, whose iphone I resorted to using when my camera battery died. The iphone, despite its many virtues, is not really suited for action photography. I have a lot of pictures of horses in those awkward takeoff or landing moments – but it does well with still-life subjects. Word is there are fliers on the inside too.

With two riders having gone clean in front of him, Rich Fellers set off on Gyro at what looked like a conservative pace. It seemed he was going for safe. Then, coming off the a tight turn into the combination, he and Gyro really turned it on. They flew down to the final oxer, the jump where Flexible came to grief in the first round. A horse jumping fast and flat over an oxer will usually bring down the back rail with a trailing hind foot. It takes skill to keep the jump round at that pace.

Gyro had no trouble getting clear, and nailed first place. Pretty good galloping for a Dutch warmblood, and fun to watch — if you weren’t one of the riders before him!

Flexible still finished 7th and Santa Teresita Fantasma was 6th. You can see complete show results at Horseshowtime – scroll down to find the Evergreen Classic.

Rich Fellers is based in Oregon, and although he was on the US team at the Pan American Games in 1991, prefers to stick to North America and Mexico. He also limits the number of shows so he can spend time with his family and training business. His first horse was a short and stout appaloosa he was given for his 11th birthday, whom he started and took all the way to Grand Prix jumper, even competing at Spruce Meadows, according to an official biography for the World Cup finals.

There was a big crowd for the Grand Prix, and plenty of competitors in the hat contest. The arrival of some late afternoon downpours resulted in part of the Hunter Derby being rescheduled to today, but for the most part it was good riding and spectating weather.

Far and Away

On the steamier (watch when the riders take of their jackets in the candid post-ride footage) Olympic front, the U.S. team is sitting in third after quality dressage performances all around. Gina Miles and McKinlaigh turned in a very striking performmance and Phillip Dutton and Connaught were also moving well. I wasn’t able to see Courageous Comet go but his score speaks for itself he and Becky Holter are in fourth. The leader after the dressage phase is Australian – Lucinda Fredericks, with her husband Clayton Fredericks holding seventh.

They are also the trainers for Alex Hua Tian, riding Chico, who is the sole eventing rider for China — in fact, the first ever Chinese eventer in an international competition — who finished in a tie for 31st, right behind Mark Todd on Gandalf. He said in a story on Chinaview that he and Chico have not trained together that long, and that they have concentrated on preparing for the jumping, particularly the cross-country. The course tomorrow promises to be a real test for horse and rider.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate..